Bill Pertwee: "somebody in a white hat"

13/10/2006

Jayne Warren meets Bill Pertwee, famous for his role as the long-suffering warden in “Dad’s Army”.

Bill Pertwee turned 80 this year. But time hasn’t slowed him down. He’s not only just written a second edition of his autobiography, “A Funny Way To Earn A Living”, but he still has plenty to say on modern society, the entertainment industry, 'Dad’s Army' and, well, life in general.

And we started at the beginning... with his mother. Bill is full of admiration for his late mother, who arrived in England from Brazil aged eight or nine and he is still trying to trace more of her early first marriage. “It was thanks to my mother providing complete security for me as a child that I was able to take chances in life,” he says.

“She was always there when I needed steadying. It’s only really as I got older that I could appreciate how incredible she was. It must have been dreadful for her as a child. She was sent to a convent school here by her father after her mother died, and after that grim experience she must have gone back to Brazil, got married and had a child, which then died.

“She never spoke of it, and I still haven’t managed to find out the details. Maybe the mystery is better left unsolved.” Bill’s early family solidarity and sense of community were vital to him. And those early influences have given him some interesting perspectives on modern society: “It’s all gone crazy now,” he says.

“There is such a lack of discipline for children. In some ways I feel sorry for our police. I mean, you see some naughty young lad being a bit of a hooligan, and you can’t do anything to stop it because of the potential fallout. “And so many parents these days have no time: both are at work and struggling financially, so the children are just left in front of the television or computers. I really do think that television, as it is now, has a lot to answer for.

Friends and community

“I mean, it's not that times are any tougher these days. When I was about 8 or 9, my father had been ill for years. And I remember my mother had gone to visit him in hospital when the bailiffs arrived. I remember the chap vividly, a Mr. Bennett, dressed in a black coat and bowler hat. He told me that our rent was four weeks in arrears and he was going to confiscate our goods. And he did. Then and there. He took everything, literally everything, except for some of my father’s things.

“But our family and friends and community stepped in. I was sent to an aunt right away, and well looked after. People did ‘look out’ for each other then.” The fact that he is so famous for “Dad’s Army” often overshadows some of his other work – including appearing alongside Kenneth Horne, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Kenneth Williams in the superb radio comedy series Beyond Our Ken and Round the Horne in the 1960s; several spots in the Carry On series, and his role as a policeman in You Rang M’Lord as well as appearances on a host of other comedy programmes from Beachcomber to Dick Emery.

But his career began even earlier, and older readers may recall the very early BBC sketch show from 1955/56: “Round the Bend”. Extraordinarily it was very much a family affair, with his cousin Jon Pertwee headlining, the scripts were by Jon’s brother Michael, and Bill himself appeared in three of the series. What are his reflections on the entertainment industry today after such a long career?

“Well, for a start I don’t like so much swearing. I started as a comedian, you see, and then worked on lots of comedy stuff. We did get a bit saucy sometimes, but nowadays writers seem to throw in a four-letter word to attract a bit of attention when they can’t think of anything else to write.

“In 'Dad’s Army', we only mentioned the word ‘bloody’ twice in eighty episodes - and then only when it was really for a good reason. "I think I was very lucky in my career. I remember being told early on that you had to be in the right place at the right time. It's not all about talent. A lot of it is about luck, and knowing how to use luck when it comes your way.

End of the pier

“I recall my wife saying to me that one minute I was at the end of a pier doing pantomime, and the next I was in the bright lights of the West End. And it's true, it did happen like that. The only thing I remember really wanting to do was radio, which I loved. Apart from that I just trusted to fate really. And of course, I did get into radio in the late 1950s, which meant I started to get listings in the Radio Times and a get a bit of a name for household myself for the comedy slots.

“It's funny, in those days people would leave the pubs at lunchtime to go home and listen to those comedy hours. "I remember getting ribbed for ‘not being a proper actor’ by Bernard Cribbins, because actors are known for being so insecure, and I wasn’t. Thanks to my mother. And of course theatre has changed so much now as well. I was asked to do a pantomime recently and I turned it down. Just about all the cast weren’t actors. They were ‘names’ - singers, ‘celebrities' and the like. I realised they needed someone who knew how to tread the boards - me!”

But you can’t interview the President of the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society without asking him about the show that has never lost its appeal. So why does he think it has remained so popular for so many generations? “That’s simple to answer,” he says. “For a start it's all about a real period in our history – a real 1940s, real home guards. They were there, it all happened, and people like that.

“Secondly - and this is why young children like it as well – it's silly, with silly situations. People fall into things, they fall off things - just like the old silent films, or Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton and the like. I met a chap the other day who said: 'I still get a laugh when I watch 'Dads Army ', and I’ve been watching it since I was 6 years old'. That must have been quite a time!"

And his favourite 'Dad’s Army' episodes? “Well, there’s two actually. 'The Day The Balloon Went Up', and 'Time On My Hands'. Both of them had that lovely actor, Harold Bennett – what a wonderful man he was!”

So just how did it all begin for him? “It was funny how it happened really. As I said, I’d already begun to develop a bit of a name for myself on the radio. And then I’d gone down to Plymouth to audition for a theatre season. My wife and young child were with me. I got the job – a five-month run. My wife was relieved to have a bit of financial security, but I told her I wasn’t going to take it and turned it down. She wasn’t too happy with me!

“I just had a feeling that something else was going to come up. You know, when one door closes another one opens, doesn't it? And then, a few days later, the phone rang, and I was offered a small part in 'Dads Army' – which then turned into something more regular and continued to grow.

"I once asked the producer what would have happened if I hadn’t been able to take the job. He just said: ‘We would have got somebody else with a white hat on!'

“Fair enough!”

‘A Funny Way To Earn A Living’ is published on October 18th, and Bill Pertwee will be signing copies of his new book and his previous book 'Stars In Battledress' on a tour around the UK. Visit Our book reviews for more details.